Prospering in the ‘New Normal’

Raising Costs and Declining Demand are Sapping Profits

The “New Normal” of today is one in which raising operating costs, associate salary increases, and reduced realization rates coupled with AFAs and demands from corporate counsel for reduced rates are sapping firm profits and there is no relief on the horizon. Law firm leaders, seeing current conditions, should be asking if there is a better way.

This article discusses what tools the government has for pursuing seemingly undeserving PPP borrowers, the obstacles to bringing such cases, and the factors that may influence the government’s decision in pursuing criminal or civil cases.

The billable hour is still profitable from a transactional perspective, but from a strategic perspective, in today’s economy, that profitability has begun to erode. That’s because our economy has fundamentally transformed into a service economy that is based on leverage and scale.

In a case addressing what consulting fees (in particular attorneys’ fees) can be charged to an applicant before a Zoning Board of Appeals, the Second Department in Landstein v. Town of LaGrange found that the Town had overreached its statutory authority.

U.S. lawyers are still spending too little of their workday on billable hours, a year after an eye-opening report found lawyers devoted only 29% — 2.3 hours — of each eight-hour workday to billable hours.